Settle for Less of Other People’s Nonsense

Getting caught up in other people’s drama, negativity, and opinions (AKA nonsense) can damage your mental health.

Just like a bad smell can stick to you, emotional contagion can latch on. It’s surprisingly easy to catch someone else’s bad mood, absorb their negativity, or start doubting yourself simply because you become tangled up in someone else's nonsense.

You don’t have to accept someone else's nonsense. Here are a few tips for dealing with other people's nonsense.

1. Don’t Take It Personally

• Someone’s insult, criticism, attitude, or behavior is a reflection of them, not a measurement of your worth.

• People speak and act from their own experiences, insecurities, frustrations, and perspectives.

• You don't have to accept everything as truth. Like "news" on the internet, many things said are opinions or flat-out lies.

2. Hand Their Garbage Back

• When someone dumps their negativity on you, visualize picking it up and handing it right back.

• Choose not to solve their problems, absorb their frustration, or spend hours replaying their comments in your head.

• Not everything someone tells you deserves a place in your mind.

3. Don’t Enter the Discussion

• Sometimes, the healthiest response is no response.

• There is power in recognizing when a conversation isn’t worth your time & energy.

• Silence is a boundary.

Settle for less of other people’s nonsense because your peace is worth protecting.